Number Zero
by TakatoRikku
Summary: Clare never met Raki, instead, Clare finds a young man with a penchant for trouble and a Yoma Hunter, or so he says. Chaos ensues when she and the other Claymores find out that there is more to him than meets the eye. Rated for explicit violence, gore
1. Chapter 1

Hello folks, here's my attempt at writing a Claymore fan fiction... Hope it works out :P

Disclaimer: I don't own Claymore, the makers of Claymore or any of the Claymores. Though Clarice doesn't look too bad... Or Helen... Hmm...

Please note that this is going to be based off of the manga more so than the anime, which excludes many scenes and a lot of gory battles due to it being only 24 episodes planned thus far. So, by including all the way up to Chapter 73 (which would probably be like... episode 50) this will be much more inclusive than if you were to watch the anime alone. If you'd like to read the manga online so you'll understand what the hell I'm talking about, please visit onemanga dot com and find Claymore under the manga section.

Plot: Clare never met Raki, instead, Clare finds a young man with a penchant for trouble and a Yoma Hunter, or so he says. Chaos ensues when she and the other Claymores find out that there is more to him than meets the eye. Rated for explicit violence, gore, etc

Wiess is pronnounced "Weece"

**Number Zero**

A dark forest reeked of the stench of death. Rivers of crimson liquid flowed through the underbrush in disgusting streams as they drizzled and pooled around bodies. One such body lay broken upon a large rock, the man's face submerged under a pool of his own blood as a figure stood atop it, tearing chunks of flesh and innards from his torso. Sounds of lip smacking and crunching could be heard as this montrous creature ate this dead man.

A drop of water was heared, and the creature turned around to reveal a horribly montrous face. It looked human at once, or maybe it never was, with reddish-brown skin that looked leathery to the touch and a wide, gaping maw filled with large pointed teeth. Its eyes were perhaps the most scary thing on its bald head, bright, sickly yellow with slitted pupils like a cat. Its body was large and powerful, with bulking muscles that flexed with every movement. The monster turned to see a figure standing in the distance between some trees. It stood up angrily as some pitiful human dared to disturb its meal. No matter, the human would just be desert then. The monster stood up and roared a primal bellow of bloodlust, and the figure in the distance reached over their back.

A huge sword was drawn. Emblazoned on the blade itself was a simple symbol, which looked like a _t_ with the cross tips pointing up. The monster dashed towards its new victim.

Silver eyes looked calmly at their oppenent, before flashing yellow with slitted pupils. The monster was upon the figure now, and ripples in the blood pool signalled its attack.

A loud slicing noise was heard and the monster stopped dead in its tracks, as blood flew around it like some sort of sick ballet. The monster's head slid cleanly off its lower jaw and landed with a splash into the bloody puddle. The figure stood off in the distance, the huge claymore sword clutched loosely in her delicate hand wavering off the ground. Her work here was done.

-----

Somewhere, in a small village down South, a large crowd of people surrounded a body lying on the ground. Blood smears were everywhere, signifying a bloody struggle.

"This is the sixth one," someone muttered, as women cried and children were ushered away and to their homes.

"What'll we do at this rate?" another man asked angrily. "Damn it! The last one was just _three_ days ago!"

"If we don't do something, we're finished!" a man with a moustache said tersely. "There's no doubt about it," he said to a young man. "There's a _Yoma_ in this village."

Moments later, a mob entered the mayor's home and began protesting.

"They eat out your guts while you're still alive!" a frazzled woman cried in fear.

"If we just sit here and wait, we'll be butchered!" a farmer yelled, waving his pitchfork.

"What'll we do chief?" the young man from before shouted. "That's the sixth one! We've got to kill this thing!"

"Calm down Wiess," the mayor said heavily. The young man of his late teens sniffed and crossed his arms together. "Are you proposing that _you _go kill a Yoma?"

Silence was met all round. The man narrowed his eyes and slammed his fist on the mayor's desk. "If not me, then who?" Wiess said angrily. "I'm skilled enough!"

The mayor sighed. "Yes you are Wiess, in fact, I've not met a soldier more skilled than you, my dear bladesmith," he responded. "But these Yoma... They can kill you and take your form you know, how would you find one? Not to mention that they are wickedly fast, intelligent and powerful. Much more powerful than you, I'm afraid."

The mayor slid a folded piece of parchment on his desk. "We've recieved a reply to our letter," he said, sliding the parchment to Wiess. "It seems they're sending one to our village."

The old mayor looked much older at that moment. "A Claymore that is."

-----

Claymores. The term that humans have given these powerful, deadly beauties of the world. A Claymore is half-human, half-Yoma. However, they are servants of man, and use their incredible powers to kill and eradicate Yoma. One Claymore is more than enough to clear out an entire village of 10 Yoma. However, they are regarded with fear and suspicion, since they also carry the flesh and blood of the very creatures they kill. It seems that even these "Silver-Eyed Witches" can garner no favor from the very people they protect, no matter who many lives are saved, or even how beautiful each one is. They are monsters in a pretty form.

"She's here!"

"It's the Claymore!"

"The Silver-Eyed Witch!"

Wiess looked up from his father's forge. His family had been famous bladesmiths for over 200 years, creating works of art for the soldiers of the continent (this world had only one large continent, with very few small islands surrounding it) and they had great respect for their work. Wiess was currently the owner of the forge, since his father had been killed by a Yoma several years back. He, in turn, had killed the Yoma while it fed on his father and had earned the title, "Yoma Hunter" from the mayor, and he was looked up to from many.

"Claymore, huh?" he said quietly, eyeing the sword that lay before him. It was his father, Vice's masterpiece before he had died, and Wiess had finished it. Vice had seen a Claymore in combat once, though this one seemed to have lost its massive sword of which it was named after. Instead, she was using what appeared to be single-edged daggers, that curved slightly and looked beautiful. Vice had decided to create a larger version for himself, and had forged the blade using his finest steel, with iron as its core as the steel was hammered and folded around the softer core. When he was finished, the sword was beautiful. It had a very long tang - almost 17 inches - to make up for its 40 inch blade that curved ever-so-slightly to the tip. The blade's edge was razor sharp, and could cut through anything with ease.

SInce Vice had died before he could fit the sword, Wiess had done it himself. He had cut some very exquisite beigewood (they don't really have tree names XD) down and had fashioned a sleek wooden handle, which he shaped and lovingly sanded himself. It covered the tang's entire length. (AN: this sword is basically a larger, kickass version of one of Legalos' fighting knives. End description)

Making up his mind, Wiess strapped the sword's harness to his shoulders and chest, making sure the belts were tight but comfortable. He then grabbed the sword and with practiced ease, slid it into the leather sheath that now rested on his back. He walked outside to see the commotion about the Claymore.

There she was, standing in the distance, surrounded by townsfolk. She wore a silver outfit, of course, and had light armor in the form of shoulder plates, waist plates and knee-high boots. A long sword handle could be seen poking from her back beside her head. Despite the fact that she had a terribly scary look on her face, she was very beautiful. She had shoulder length hair with a fringe on her forehead that reached down to her eyebrows. She had almond shaped eyes, with the famous silver orbs Wiess had heard so much about. Her expression was cold. Beautiful, but cold.

The townsfolk began murmuring as the Claymore walked past them, and right up to Wiess. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment, including his sword, but she just walked past him without a care in the world.

Wiess, for his part, was extremely intrigued by the silent woman. He saw her walk into the mayor's home, no doubt to talk about the situation. He decided to hang around until she came out. Absentmindedly, he noticed all the townsfolk dissapear into their homes. It seemed as if the Claymore scared the people more than the Yoma. Hell, the Yoma would leave dead bodies lying around yet the townsfolk would walk around anyways. These people needed to get their priorities straightened...

The mayor's door opened and Wiess saw the Claymore step out. He grinned and ran up behind her. She suddenly whirled around in a flash, drawing her sword in one fluid motion as she swung it towards him. Wiess reacted on instinct and drew his own sword, ready to meet her blade's edge.

He waited for the loud clang of steel on steel, but it never came. Looking to the swords, he noticed that the Claymore stopped her blade a hair's width from his own. He raised an eyebrow.

"Paranoid much?" he asked.

_Swish! Shhhhhing!_ She sheathed her mighty sword over her shoulder and gave him a cold look before turning away. Wiess raised an eyebrow.

-----

_For a moment there, I thought I felt something from that man,_ Clare thought to herself as she _clank clanked_ away in her steel boots. _A very miniscule amount of Yoki. But he couldn't possibly be a Yoma. No, no way._ She turned her head slightly.

"Hey, wait up!" the young man said, jogging up to her side. "You're a Claymore, aren't you?"

"No," she answered tonelessly.

"That's what people call you then, huh?" he asked.

"That's right. Our organization has no name. That's the name your people thrust upon us," she said.

"I see, I see," the young man said. He gave her a queer look. "I somehow thought you'd be scarier, but you look pretty normal to me."

Clare was surprised, though she didn't show it. "You're not afraid of me?" she asked curiously, despite herself.

The man laughed. "Of course not!" he said. "You're a defender of humans! Besides, you're really easy on the eyes."

Clare glared at him and started to walk away again. He caught up to her easily.

"Whoa, I didn't mean to offend you, most girls would have liked a compliment," he said cheerfully, matching her stride for stride. They came to an archway. "Hey, that's leads out of the village."

She looked around. "This is the end of the village?" she asked, filing it away in her memory.

"Yes ma'am," the man said.

_Thunk!_ _Plop!_

In smooth fashion, Clare impaled her sword into the dirt ground and sat down using it as a backrest. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She could feel the man's eyes on her body.

"Rest time," she stated, answering his unasked question. "I've been walking for three days."

She heard the sounds of someone sitting down and cracked an eye open. The man was sitting next to her - but not too close - although his sword remained on his back. It appeared to have rotated so it wouldn't stick into the ground. She looked at him.

"Why are you so interested in me?" she asked.

The man shrugged. "I've never seen a Claymore fight a Yoma before," he said. "It was hard for me, is it easy for you?"

Clare raised a delicately arched eyebrow. "You, killed a Yoma?" she asked.

The man nodded. "Seven years ago, my father - he was a bladesmith - was killed by a Yoma. I was apprenticed under my father of course, and killed it using the skills I learned from practicing with swords. I'm this town's bladesmith now."

Clare was mildly amazed. Judging by this man's appearance that meant he had to have dispatched of a fully grown _and_ freshly fed Yoma when he less than 10 years old. "Impressive," was all she said. "However the abilities of one of us is far greater than a human's. Comparing the two is quite drastic."

"I know that," the man said with a chuckle. He held out his hand. "I'm Wiess."

She stared at his offered hand. He slowly drew it back. "Riiiiight," he said awkwardly. "Not that friendly. Well, what's your name?"

The town bell started to gong, signalling curfew.

"You don't need to know my name," she said, turning away from him. "You'll forget it soon enough."

"Like you'll forget mine?"

She turned around to see the man, Wiess looking at her with something akin to pity on his face. "You must be very lonely," was all he said before walking away, his unique sword swaying on his back.

Clare stayed there, rooted to the spot as the bell tower gonged over and over again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Number Zero**

Wiess walked home, all the while shaking his head at the sad-looking girl he had left behind. Claymores were pitiful creatures, doomed to suffer the pains of their Yoma flesh and human scorn, fighting monsters until the day they died. What a pathetic existance.

As he passed by old Arthur's house, he noticed that the candlelights were off, which was wierd since it was past 8, nearly night time. He found the front door open and walked inside.

"Hey Arthur, is everything -"

Wiess stopped in mid-sentence as he saw what was before him. A huge, hulking mass of burgandy flesh was busy tearing into a horrified Arthur's stomach as the old man was eaten alive. Wiess was vaguely aware of a highly unique stench, one that could only be a Yoma's as the monster turned around to face him.

"Well well well," it said in a gutteral tone, that sounded male, but much deeper. "If it isn't the big Yoma Hunter, Wiess!"

Wiess quickly drew his curved sword. "You bastard!" he said quietly, noticing the remains of a moustache on the Yoma's lips. "Frederick! It was you all along!"

'Frederick' laughed, drawing up to his full Yomish height of 8 feet. "And you humans had no idea whatsoever!" he laughed, creeping towards Wiess, who backed out the front door. "I've been hiding here under this disguise for over seven years and you didn't notice a thing, oh great Yoma Hunter!"

"Shut up!" Wiess yelled, drawing attention from the other townsfolk in their homes. "Wait... Seven years..."

The Yoma laughed. "That's right!" he chortled. "That other Yoma wasn't the only one savoring your dear father's guts that night!"

"DIE!" Wiess screamed, slashing downwards at the Yoma. It dodged the man's attack easily, but was surprised when Wiess flicked his wrist upwards like lightning, leaving a large, deep gash in its midsection.

"You scrawny sack of meat!" the Yoma roared, smashing Wiess in the jaw as it backhanded him across the street. "Do you know how long I've been waiting to eat your delicious guts? How many times I've had to hold myself back from those sweet, sweet innards? Do you?!"

Wiess picked himself off of the dirt and rubbed his sore jaw. "Ouch," he muttered as the Yoma leapt at him again. He raised his sword.

"I'll have a FEAST tonight!" the Yoma shouted, racing towards Wiess. A silver blur crossed his path and he stopped dead in his tracks. "What?"

His head slid off his neck with a sickly splat as it hit the ground. Wiess saw the Claymore standing some distance away, blood leaking off of her sword, and her eyes the same yellow as the Yoma.

-----

"Hey!"

Clare turned around, seeing a figure running up to her from the village's archway. It was that Wiess man. He pulled up to her, panting slightly.

"Thank you," he said seriously. She regarded him with a look.

He wasn't fazed at all. "Tell me your name, please," he said with a determined look in his eye. "You said that I wouldn't remember it, but I will. Otherwise, who would remember that you even existed?"

Clare was speechless. _Existed..._

"My name's Clare," she said briskly, turning around and walking away into the desert.

Wiess watched her figure dissapear into the horizon. "Clare," he repeated with a smile.

With a heavy heart, he turned back to look at his village, as the people inside gave him distrustful looks. No one trusted a Yoma survivor. It was time to leave, or be thrown out. Preferably, he'd like to leave with his dignity intact.

-----

"I've heard of you before."

Wiess whirled around to point his arched blade at a creepy old man in black's throat. "And you are?" he drawled.

The man stepped back and bowed politely. "Rubel, at your service Yoma Hunter," he answered.

Wiess sheathed his sword and scrutinized the man before him. "You're from this 'organization', aren't you?" he asked. "The same one Clare works for?"

The man raised an eyebrow, though Wiess couldn't see his expression from behind the dark sunglasses. "So she told you her name eh?" he murmured to himself. "Interesting. Are you perhaps, looking for her?"

"Maaaaybe," Wiess shrugged. "What's it to you old man?"

Rubel smiled mysteriously. "Oh my, falling in with _that_ sort of woman," he tutted. "If you were any faster, you could have caught her bathing. Oh well, it can't be helped I suppose. She's got a job in Strah, it's not far from here."

"Bout 2 days walk if I'm not mistaken," Wiess agreed.

"She left a few hours ago," Rubel added. "You may catch up to her if you... run."

Wiess thought it over for a moment. "Thanks," he said, turning around and starting off at a light jog.

Rubel watched the young man run away. "Wiess, the human Yoma Hunter," he mused to himself as he stroked his chin. "Hmm."

-----

_Four of them,_ Clare thought as she reached for her sword. The four Yoma surrounded her. _This could be bad._

She heard a faint rustling above her and instinctively dived to her left, twisting around so she landed on her back. A deafening _KA-BLAM_ was heard as a winged Yoma hit the ground where she was just standing.

_Wings?_ she thought, eyeing her fifth opponent. _Can this one fly?_

"DIE HALF-BREED!" the lead Yoma yelled, and he leapt at her. She quickly went to draw her sword when...

_Fffffttttt!_

An arrow pierced the Yoma's skull and protruded from his eye, making him holler in agony as he staggered around, trying to pull it out. The other Yoma stopped their attack and looked to see a newcomer on the field. Clare's eyes widened. It was him!

"Yo, Clare!" Wiess smirked as he waved his free hand with his other held a long recurve bow. "What's up?"

"Wiess?" she whispered to herself. What was he doing here?

"GAAHH!" the Yoma attacked again, and Clare used her sword to black a piercing finger attack from one of them. He blade edge rested in the cracks of his fingers as she stopped his blow. "Huh?" he asked stupidly.

With a flick of her wrist, Clare cleaved his arm in half from the hand up to the shoulder, making him scream in pain. Dodging attacks from the two others and the winged one, Clare cut one's arm off before slicing it in half as Wiess' arrows pummeled the other one. The winged Yoma bellowed in rage and flew towards Wiess, who didn't have time to notch another arrow. He knealt down to one knee as the Yoma bore down on him and reached over his shoulder for his sword, drawing it forward in a slash as it flew above him, cutting its left leg off as it screeched in pain.

Clare, meanwhile, had dispatched of the other Yoma and walked up to Wiess as the winged one flew away in terror. She glanced at the young man, who shrugged and notched an arrow.

"Allow me," she said, placing her hand on his shoulder. He lowered his bow and watched her carefully.

The air around her was blasted away as she powered up her Yoki, using 10 percent of her power, making her eyes change to yellow. A little push more to 30 percent, and her face grew slightly Yomish, with her teeth a little pointy and veins bulging out. Her sword arm doubled in muscle size and she gripped the handle tightly. Swinging the sword back, she concentrated heavily. With a mighty heave, she threw her sword skywards at supersonic speeds, and it dissapeared out of their view, towards the small speck in the distance that was the flying Yoma.

Wiess raised his hand over his head to block the sun just in time to see the Yoma spasm in flight, then drop to the grop some distance away. "Nice throw," he said as they started to walk to the Yoma corpse.

-----

"Oh, so you survived?" Rubel asked as Clare walked up to him, followed by Wiess. The man had his bow hanging off his left shoulder.

"The job is done," Clare said. "Go collect money for five Yoma."

"Five Yoma?" Rubel asked with a mysterious grin. "My my, aren't you a hero, taking on five by yourself. Or... did you have some help?"

Clare narrowed her eyes at the jab Rubel meant about Wiess. "He was a good distraction," she muttered. "Why was he following me?"

"Because I told him he could," Rubel answered. Clare raised an eyebrow at him. "I was bored."

"Why are you following me?" Clare asked Wiess roughly, pinning him with her best glare. He shrugged.

"You saved my life, I owe you," he said simply.

"My _my_," Rubel said, clapping. "How noble of you!"

"Don't bother," Clare said irritably. "Just leave me alone and we'll call it settled."

"Yeah, I don't think so!" Wiess smirked, and Rubel suppressed his own. "I plan on saving your life one day! And besides, the village kicked me out."

Clare frowned. "Your own people kicked you out?" she asked wistfully.

"Like someone we know?" Rubel mused to himself.

"I can be your sidekick!" Wiess volunteered. "I mean, I know I kind of sucked back at the village, but I think I did pretty damn good this time you know? I can really help out, and I'm a wicked shot with the bow and -"

"Wiess. Shut up," Clare said. He closed his mouth. "Sidekicks don't talk."

Wiess grinned. Rubel "My my"'d.

"So, you'll be taking this man along with you I see?" he said. "Well, I have no problem with that. However... here is your next job, if you want it."

"Of course."

He flicked her a black card, and she recoiled at the sight of it.

"It can't be!" she gasped, looking at it in horror. "Why me?"

"It had to be you," Rubel said. "She specifically asked for you."

With shaking hands, Clare opened the black envelope and went rigid at the sight of the symbol on the card within. It had two more lines on it, but it was nearly identical to her own symbol.

"What's this all about?" Wiess asked. "You okay, Clare?"

Rubel put his hand on Wiess' shoulder. "Perhaps you should give her some time to herself for now," he suggested. "She's been through a shock. Think about feeding yourself for now."

"Right..." Wiess said, giving Clare another worried glance. He removed his bow from his shoulder and set off for some food.

-----

"That's a Black Card of Death, isn't it."

Clare turned around to see Wiess, holding up what looked like roasted meat in his arms. "How do you know what it is?" she asked as he sat down next to her.

"I asked Rubel."

"I see."

"Hungry?"

"Mmm."

"I brought some clean water too."

"Mmm."

"It's in the bottle."

"Mmm."

"Let's have sex."

"Mm - _what?!_" Clare bolted off the ground and glared at him.

"Serves you right for not listening!" Wiess chided with a laugh as he tossed her a drumstick. "It's fowl. This one was pretty plump too. Dig in!"

He proceeded to massacre his half of the food while chugging down two bottles of water (he brought 4) as Clare took 3 cat nips of her drumstick. He looked at her strangely.

"Not hungry?" he asked.

"Mmm? No, we don't require that much food when we need to eat," she said. "I'm full. We eat every couple of days. We can go a week without food or water."

"I see, I see," Wiess nodded as he ate his drumstick. "Must be the Yoma half of you, I suppose. Oh well, that can't be helped then."

Clare looked at him intensely. "Why is it that you aren't afraid or sickened by me?" she asked curiously.

Wiess gave her an incredulous look. "You haven't given me any reason to," he replied tartly, shocking her. "Listen, I could care less about how much Yoma blood and flesh are in you. You look nice, you are - well, sort of - nice, and you haven't tried to eat me so I'm happy, right?'

Clare continued staring at him for a while until he started to feel unconfortable. She then gave him something close to a smile. Well, a twitch of the lips, but her eyes seemed less cold this time. "Right," she answered. "Get some sleep. We have a rough day in the mountains tomorrow."

"Goodnight Clare."

"... Goodnight Wiess."


	3. Chapter 3

**Number Zero**

"It's been a long time. Hello Clare."

Clare looked up at the beautiful young woman who stood before her and Wiess. She had long, flowing silver hair, and a heart shaped face, not unlike Clare. "Elena..." she whispered. "You haven't changed. You look just like you did back then. I thought... You'd be more distorted now..."

"I'm forcing it back," Elena said with a sad smile. "To meet with you."

Wiess tuned out what they were saying. It was so sad. So sad to see these beautiful creatures turning into monsters, the very same monsters that they killed. In the end, they were just killed by their own kind. It was wrong! He clenched his fist and felt a little pain.

Clare paused in her talk with her old and only friend. She thought she sensed another presence... But no, it was probably just a Yoma somewhere far away.

"Hurry!" Elena said with a smile as she started to change. "Do it! Do it while my mind is still human... Clare..."

_Ffssskkt!_

Blood sprayed out from Elena's midsection as Clare skewered her. She let out a small gasp as she fell forward while Clare landed behind her.

"Thank you... Clare..." she breathed. "Now... I can die as a human..."

Wiess bit back a sob as tears threatened to fall. To kill comrades, even if they were monsters... It just wasn't right. Clare stood off in the distance, her back still to him and Elena's body. He knew she was crying.

"Help me..." she said. "Help me bury her."

Wiess wiped his eyes. "Of course."

-----

"Whoa, this place is huge!" Wiess said, setting their packages down as he looked around the hotel room.

"It is rather nice," Clare said, throwing off her cloak. She grunted and held her stomach. Wiess looked at her worriedly.

"Are you alright?" he asked. He made sure not to touch her. She was wearing this tight little leather outfit and, well, half-Yoma or not she was one niiiiiiice looking girl.

"I'm fine," she said. "It's just these pills."

"Oh yeah," Wiess said. "The ones Rubel gave you to suppress your Yoki?"

"That's right. They make me a little dizzy sometimes."

"I bet!" Wiess laughed. "No offense, but you look even more normal now, with those big brown eyes and blonde hair! It must be a huge difference for you!"

Clare spared him a smile. "It is," she said. "Come on, let's go out."

"Should I leave the stuff behind?" Wiess asked, motioning towards a pair of large stone statues. They were carved statues of women. Clare nodded.

"We won't need them right now," she answered. "Let's go."

-----

"Finished your dinner?" the hotel owner asked as he entered their room later that night. Clare was seated upon a chair and Wiess was lounging about the bed.

"Yes," Clare said with a practiced smile. "It was delicious."

"Glad to hear it!" the owner said jovially, collecting up the plates. "By the way, there's a curfew at night, so you shouldn't go walking about outside."

"Yes," Clare said. "I knew that, thank you."

"Well, goodnight!"

The door closed and Clare turned to Wiess, who gave her a grin. "I'm still surprised that you could eat so much," she said wryly. "I thought you would get sick."

"Food is food," Wiess said stubbornly. "If there's more, my stomach will make room for it!"

"How do you stay in shape, if you eat so much?" Clare wondered out loud.

"Dunno," Wiess said, jumping off the bed. "So, what are we doing now?"

"You are going to bed," Clare said sternly. "I will be going out. Close and lock the doors. If anyone comes, pretend you're asleep."

"Got it," Wiess said with a puff. He pointed to her bed, where he had arranged the pillows to form a human shape. "I think that'll fool anyone in the dark."

"Very good," Clare said with a somewhat amused look. "I'll be off then."

"Be careful," Wiess called as she opened the window, but she was already gone.

-----

Wiess was awakened by the sound of a knock at his door. "Excuse me young sir?" the hotel owners voice called through. "I was wondering if you were needing anything at the moment?"

"No thanks," Wiess replied.

"And your sister?"

"She's out cold I'm afraid," Wiess said with a quiet chuckle. "Your dinner was so good she just fell asleep right after."

"That's good to hear!" the owner laughed. "Well, have a good night then."

"You too," Wiess sighed in relief as the footsteps grew fainter from his door. A rustling at the window caught his attention. "Clare?"

"Shh," she said, slipping through the window, though Wiess noticed she was missing her cloak. He let his eyes rake her form, as he usually did when she wasn't paying attention.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said. "Get some sleep."

"Er, yeah."

Morning came quickly, and with it came some of the city's soldiers. "Don't move!" one of them said tersely, as they grabbed both Clare and Wiess. Luckily, she had taken her supressor pills just then.

"The half-eaten bodies of two soldiers were found yesterday in the cathedral," one soldier explained. "Come with us."

"Yeah!" a voice from the door said. Two men, one large and bulky while the other, lean and short, stood there. The shorter one with a mean smirk was talking. "She was about that height."

The soldiers in the room tensed.

"Looked pretty suspect, running around the rooftops last night," he continued, resting his head on his hand as his elbow was against the doorsill. "Didn't you two arrive in town yesterday?"

"We didn't not arrive in town yesterday, if that's not what you didn't mean," Wiess answered.

Everyone, including Clare, looked at him strangely. The soldier known as Sid continued to say that he suspected Clare of being a Claymore, which was right of course, until he drew her hood down and saw that she had brown eyes and blonde hair, instead of silver and silver as Claymores had.

"Hey," he said in dissapointment as he held her by the cheek, his eyes drinking in her beauty. "You eyes don't look silver..."

He moved her head around, and she just let him with Wiess raised an eyebrow. "You're a pretty one, aren't you?" he asked lecherously. He leaned down closer to her face. "But we fought a half-breed who dirtied her body with monster flesh. It wouldn't be surprising if she could _change_ the color of her eyes... now would it?"

_Crack!_

Sid the soldier fell to the floor as his partner Galk (the huge guy) startled. The other soldiers looked on in awe.

Wiess had somehow gotten out of their hold, crossed the room and pretty much slugged Sid on the noggin all at once.

"OWWW!" Sid yelled, getting back up and rubbing his head. "What was that for you idiot!?"

"Who are you calling idiot, ugly?" Wiess shot back, fists at the ready. "You come in here, thinking you know everything and acting all high and mighty but the truth is: you don't know shit! Some perfect city, some _wonderful_ paradise this is if all your soldiers do is go around accusing young girls of being freaking monsters! Why don't you grow some balls and actually go hunt the monster that's already here, instead of wasting your time chasing some girl's ass?"

"Why you-!" Sid hissed, raising his fist. Wiess got ready, but Galk grabbed Sid's arm.

"Let's go," Galk said seriously. "We're done here."

"Galk!" Sid protested. When he saw that he wasn't going to get his way, Sid sneered. "Tch!"

-----

"Hmm."

Wiess looked at Clare's face, as she looked in thought. "What's up?" he asked.

"Hmm?" she hummed to herself. "Oh, it's nothing. What you said, lots of it had hidden meaning and yet it sounded like nonsense at the same time. It was very cunning."

"Er, thanks?"

"You're welcome."

Clare continued to watch the sky outside as Wiess bustled around the room. "So, did you find anything out?"

Clare nodded. "The Yoma seems to be preying on humans inside the cathedral," she answered. "I'm going back tonight to find out more."

Wiess nodded. "Hey, be careful of those two soldiers," he said uneasily. "I really don't trust that Sid character."

Clare gave him her not-smile again. "Is it because he hates Silver-Eyed Witches, or had some interest in me when he thought I was human?" she asked in amusement. Wiess huffed.

"Both?" he answered incredulously. "Do I at least get to come along tonight?"

Clare frowned. Wiess saw her open her mouth to say no and he interupted. "Hey come on, even Rubel said I'm your sidekick!" he protested. "I can't kick ass if I'm not by your side!"

Clare gave him a look. "That was a horrible joke," she said. "But fine. Get ready to leave by nightfall. In the meantime, we'll leave our 'antiques' with the father. Let's go do that now."

-----

Wiess watched from his position on the rooftops some distance away as Clare fought both Galk and Sid at the same time using her splendid daggers. He himself was armed only with his recurve bow, but that was deadly enough on its own. He saw Clare merely toy with the two human soldiers before perching on top of a spire as they looked at her in horrified awe. Wiess smiled wryly. Claymore: 1 Humans: 0

"AAAGH!"

A scream of total terror erupted from the cathedral, and he saw Clare bolt down and through the main doors as Galk and Sid followed her. Cursing, Wiess ran across the rooftops easily, and stopped at the building Clare had fought on. The outside guards were still around the door and Wiess had to get in quickly. Looking around, he saw a rope that lead up to the top spire on the cathedral and deduced that it must have been Clare's. Using an arrow, Wiess cut the end of the rope and used it to swing down and into the cathedral.

He stopped just behind Galk and Sid, who were frozen in terror. Pushing past the surprised men, Wiess saw Clare squaring up agianst a HUGE Yoma, it had to be at least 10 feet tall!

"Stay back!" Clare shouted to them.

"W-what the hell?" Sid gulped. "Is that - is that a Yoma?"

"Y-yeah," Wiess answered. "A big one."

"You're no match for it!" Clare shouted when they stepped forward to help her.

"GRAAA!"

"Ahh!" Clare yelped as blood erupted from her right shoulder.

"CLARE!" Wiess yelled, notching an arrow as Galk and Sid drew their swords. The giant Yoma turned and bolted for them, it was too fast!

_Fwap-fssskt!_

An arrow embedded itself into the Yoma's right eye and it stopped in mid-bolt, yelling in pain. Another thwack was heard and they saw one of Clare's daggers in its neck.

"GRAAAAH!" it bellowed, wrenching both offending objects out of its body.

Clare had gotten back up and ran to the men. She suddenly kicked Sid back and he yelped.

"HEY WHA-!" he stopped mid yell when the Yoma crushed the ground he was at earlier.

_Fwish!_ Clare tried to use her remaining dagger to cut off its head, but it blocked it with its arm, making her grit her teeth.

Galk tried to slash it with his sword, but the Yoma just shattered the blade as if it were nothing. It's fingers stretched out into spears and he closed his eyes as they fired towards him. Clare stabbed the Yoma's arm down, saving his life and he started breathing again.

"RUN!" she yelled. "Get out of the way!"

_Splurch._

Her eyes widened as she sat there, as the Yoma's other hand impaled her 5 times in one blow through the chest. "Ugh..." she moaned quietly as blood squirted out of her mouth.

"Clare!" Weiss screamed, notching an arrow. The Yoma held Clare up with his spear-like fingers and slammed her against the ground painfully. It then turned to the men.

Sid, for his part, was frozen on the spot. Galk was weaponless, but prepared to fight with his fists to the death. Wiess... well...

"DIE YOU MONSTER!" he screamed, loosing an arrow and drawing another one in a flash. The first arrow slammed into the Yoma's chest to no effect, as did the second one. It advanced on them. Wiess drew two arrows this time and succeeded in hitting it in the neck, making it growl and stop as it tried to remove them. The doors slammed open and all the guards from the cathedral stormed in.

"GRAAAH!" the Yoma roared, stopping them in their tracks. It jumped into the darkness and dissapeared.

"Shit," Sid cursed as he looked around. He walked over to Clare's body and bent his head over her chest. "Tch. She's still alive."

Galk came over and picked her up. He turned to see Wiess pointing his bow with two notched arrows at him. The guards bristled.

"She saved my life, and yours Sid," Galk said. He looked to Wiess. "We owe her. Even if she's part monster."

Wiess' bow quivered and he lowered it. "Good," he said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Number Zero**

"I'm afraid I can't do much more for her," Father Vincent said sadly as he, Wiess, Sid and Galk watched Clare's bandaged body lie on the bed.

"Like I said, she's dying," Sid said without a care. "Treating her wont' do more than comfort her."

He crossed his arms and gave Wiess a wicked smirk. "It's just monsters and half-breeds killing eachother," he continued, not noticing that Wiess was getting continuously upset with what he was saying. "Nothing to get worked up about. Huh?"

He opened his eyes after his speech to see a fist in his face. Literally.

"Shut your mouth," Wiess said in a dangerously low voice as Sid shook off the effects of his powerful punch. "Shut your damn mouth. What do you know about Clare?!"

Sid got back to his feet and glared at the younger man.

"She's prepared to die fighting!" Wiess said. "She's risking her life to protect humans! Like your worthless self!"

"You little..." Sid hissed, throwing a punch.

It connected with Wiess' face, but the man didn't so much as move from the force of it. In fact, Sid's knuckles hurt greatly from it and he grabbed his hand in pain.

"Heh," Wiess said, glaring at Sid. "I've been punched by men far stronger than your pansy ass, even Yoma! Don't think I can't take a hit you ugly fool!"

Sid made to attack Wiess again and the younger man tensed his muscles in preparation to pummel the soldier.

-----

In her sleep, Clare felt a shift in Yoki. But she hurt, she hurt so much that she couldn't tell if it was hers or not. She had to work on healing her body. That was the most important.

What seemed like eons later, Clare opened her eyes. She felt a weight on her stomach and saw the familiar black hair of Wiess. She never really got a good look at him before, and decided that staring at him while he was asleep would be better than unnerving him while he was awake. He was quite attractive, she supposed, for a human. His black hair was short, and untamed, sticking up and flying back. She remembered that his eyes were a very light shade of blue, and that he was quite muscular. Then again, the latter probably had to do with his bladesmithing and fighting skills.

Wiess began to wake up and she watched him as he did. "Clare?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes. He saw her looking at him. "Clare! You're awake!"

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," Clare replied. Wiess looked even happier.

"And you've grown some sarcasm!" he said. "This is truly a miracle."

_Wap_. She cuffed him on the head. "What did I say about too much talking?" she warned, and he gave her a happy, silent smile.

Father Vincent walked in with a relived smile. "I'm happy to see that you're better!" he said.

"Father, I have a request," Clare said.

-----

"Man I"m bored," Wiess sulked as he walked around the open-display caskets of _dead_ people. "What is with these religious types? Yuck!"

He hefted the two heavy stone statues on his back and tottered around some more. Despite his protests, Clare didn't want him anywhere near her when she was inspecting the priests to see if they were Yoma. So much for being a useful sidekick!

"Oh well," he said to himself, not noticing the creaks and cracks of the large decayed body behind him as it rose out of its casket. "I just hope Clare's okay... Shit"

-----

"GRAAAAAAAAH!"

Clare whirled around. "Wiess!" she cried, drawing her daggers and rocketing towards the tomb.

"Sid and I will follow her!" Galk shouted to the soldiers. "The rest of you protect the priests and bishop!"

They caught up to Clare, who had just arrived to see Wiess get smacked back by the Yoma, making the man hit a column a few feet away. She threw a dagger at the Yoma's arm, stopping it from impaling Wiess on the spot. She leapt over to Wiess' side and took up a defensive stance towards the Yoma.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Are you hurt?"

"Just peachy," was her answer as two arrows flew over her shoulder and sunk into the Yoma's left hand, which made its spear fingers go awry, making it miss Clare.

"Thank you," she said, leaping into combat.

"While I take care of him, you run for the door, got it?" she asked, slicing into the Yoma's right hand, only proving to infuriate it more. She dodged a slash that would have disembowled her and flipped back to Wiess.

"I don't think so, I'm your sidekick you know!" Wiess said, loosing an arrow into the Yoma's thigh. He put another one in the opposite leg. "I'm right beside you, Clare!"

They were both throw away when fingers blasted the column behind them, sending Wiess flying, his bow skittering away from him on the ground. The Yoma jumped at the fallen man, wanting to eliminite the ranged pesk.

"Oh no!" Clare gasped.

Luckily, Wiess was saved by Galk, who used his brute strength to stop the Yoma's death blow from turning him into a pancake. Sid's throwing knives prevented the left arm from impaling Galk, and Clare slashed it to prevent the Yoma from attacking all three men. Wiess ran for his bow, and reached over his shoulder to grab an arrow when he realized that they had all flown out during his fall.

"Oh shit."

"Is that the best you can do, you limping half-breed?" the Yoma growled, beating Clare back with ferocious strength as it used Galk's sword against her. Galk was lying on the ground, and Sid's throwing knives did nothing to deter it. It slashed downwards powerfully, making Clare block with both arms and her single dagger. The sheer impact of the sword make her chest works rip open, and blood squirted from her body.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Wiess cursed, bolting for the statues that he left near the coffin. He grabbed the one of the goddess Teresa and shouted, "CLARE!"

He threw it to her just in time as the Yoma swept his sword at her midsection, the statue stopping it. Soon, the stone began to crumble, and a handle appeared at the top, her sword.

"Don't push your luck girlie!" the Yoma crowed, running towards her. "You won't get far with just one sword!"

Blood spurted from his back and he growled in pain. He turned to see Wiess behind him, clutching his curved sword. The remains of another statue of the goddess Clare were at his feet. "How about two then?"

"A Claymore, I can understand," the Yoma laughed. "But a human? Take some advice punk, run away."

His answer was a barely-avoided thrust to his brain. "Human? I'm insulted!" Wiess said with a smirk. Clare, Galk and Sid gasped. "I'm no normal human, I'm the Yoma Hunter!"

Clare sighed. "Again, you are terrible at jokes Wiess."

"You love it."

"SHUT UP!" the Yoma roared, attacking Clare while Wiess parried its fingers.

The battle was fierce, and the Yoma nearly killed Clare again with its fingers, but Galk managed to use his body as a pincushion while Clare leapt above him and cut off the Yoma's arms. Then, she unleashed more Yoki and cut the Yoma clear in half from the stomach up.

"Yeah, you did it!" Wiess cheered, while Sid groaned from his shoulder wound.

"Shut up, I'm riddled with holes too!" Galk muttered.

Clare then dropped to her knees in pain.

"Clare?" Wiess asked. "Clare, are you okay?"

_It's no good!_ Clare thought desperately as he body began to change. _I can't change back!_

"Clare?" Wiess asked, walking up to her.

"Stay back!" she cried, lifting her sword up to her neck. "Don't come any closer!"

"What the hell are you doing?" Wiess asked, moving forward.

"If we use too much of our Yoma energy, it becomes unstoppable," Clare explained, letting out bursts of groans as he body changed. "So while I still have a human consciousness... I'm ending my life."

"Are you... are you becoming like Elena did?" Wiess asked in a frightened tone.

Clare felt tears from her eyes. "Yes..." she whispered. She raised her sword, but another burst of Yoki surged through her body, rendering her arm useless. "Wiess... please... end my life!"

"What?!" Wiess shouted. "Hell no! I can't do that Clare!"

"Please Wiess," she begged. "I can't stop it! I'm turning into a Yoma!"

"NO Clare, you'll be fine, just - just try to control it!"

"I have," she said painfully. "I've gone too far. Please... Wiess... Kill me."

"Who am I gonna fight Yoma with then?" Wiess asked pathetically as he raised his sword.

"I'm glad we spent some time together... Wiess," Clare said as he body changed some more. "I guess you're no longer a sidekick anymore."

She felt something grab her. Looking up, she was stunned to see Wiess clutching her to himself. "Wiess, get away and kill me before I turn!" she cried.

"Pfft," he said with a teary grin. He held her closely as he positioned the tip of his sword at her back. "I said I'd always stay by your side stupid. That's why if you die, then I'm going with you!"

This was said with such a maniacal smile that Clare had no doubts in her mind that Wiess would run that sword through the both of them without a second thought. He would die.

For her.

A monster...

Both were surrounded by a maelstrom of purple light.


	5. Chapter 5

**Number Zero**

It was far out into the country that a young girl could be seen running. She looked around 13, maybe a bit older. She kept looking behind her, her long brown hair flying wildly as she ran as fast as she could away from what was pursuing her. It was a man, who didn't seem to have any trouble at following her at all. Then again, he was a full grown man while she was a child.

"Hey!" he called out, closing a 200 foot gap in seconds. "Wait for me! There's no need to run away from me, is there?"

He appeared in front of the girl and transformed into a horrid Yoma. "GYAHAHAHAH!" he laughed, licking his maw in anticipation.

"EEEEEEEEEE!" the girl understandably screamed.

_Thunk!_ A sword tip appeared in his face. _Fwap!_ The top half of his head flew off, to the girl's horror.

She looked up to see her saviors, three Claymores who looked down at her apathetically. One had short hair in a bob. The other had long hair in a ponytail, with her bangs on each side of her face. The one that had killed the Yoma had long hair that fell to her shoulders.

"You're from Toriro village," Long Hair said. "What happened there?"

"P-please help!" she cried. "Y-yoma, lots of 'em! About five!"

"Five?" Long Hair mused. "Then it's not a voracious eater... But a group of Yoma."

"A-and one of your kind and a man are fighting them alone!" the girl added, making the Claymores raise their eyebrows in surprise. They bolted after realizing that the single Claymore wouldn't be able to fight a voracious eater if there was one, especially not with human backup.

They arrived in the city to see it a scene of massacre.

For the Yoma.

Four Yoma lay severed to pieces on the ground as a single warrior stood about them, sword dripping blood. The leading warrior noticed a human male pulling a unique sword out of a freshly killed Yoma's head, and then flicking it clear of blood. He caught sight of her and her comrades.

"Clare, it's your comrades," he called to the still warrior. She turned around and the lead warrior thought she saw... no, it was nothing.

"I see," the leader said calmly. "You took care of the other four."

Her eyes narrowed. "But you missed one. It almost killed a girl just now. Care to explain that?" she asked.

"It was heading in your direction," the warrior explained without turning around. "I thought you'd make it in time if you didn't want it on your heads either."

The two warriors behind the leader bristled.

"You're pretty confident to take on all four," the leader shot back calmly. "Looking for glory?"

"Not really," she answered, still not turning around. "I just got here early and decided to proceed. Besides. we get no glory."

"You ignored our orders and charged in on your own-!" the warrior to the left of the leader shouted, but she was silenced by her leader.

"One of them could have been a voracious eater," she stated. "Did that ever occur to you?"

She got a shrug in response. "Oh well," the leader sighed. She remembered the human man. A flicker in the Yoki caught her attention. She tried hard to sense it, but it dissapeared almost immediately. "I think I just sensed another Yoma nearby!"

"These isn't any," the man answered. "Clare and I got them all."

"'Clare and I'?" the leader repeated. She turned to the warrior. "You dragged a human along, fully knowing that he could be killed? Are you an idiot?"

"Hey shut up!" the man snapped, making the three warriors take an involuntary step back. "I'm Clare's sidekick! We've taken on 11 Yoma together already!"

"Rubel approves," the warrior, Clare said.

"Hmm," the leader mused. "At any rate, we'll report this to the higher ups. They'll decide what to do."

As she and her team were walking away, she faintly heard the man ask 'Clare', "Man, are they always this bitchy?"

She shook her head and continued walking. Teaming up with a human of all things! Still... She definitely felt something strange from those two. Especially the man.

-----

"An Awakened Being?" Wiess asked. "That doesn't sound too pleasant."

"They used to be former Number Ones who grew addicted to the feeling of releasing their Yoki energy," Clare said as they walked through the city. "We've been added to a team that will hunt one down. Rubel said that it took down a warrior of average strength."

"And we're going... why?" Wiess asked as he looked around. The villagers in this town looked as if they saw Claymores every day. Odd.

"I want to test my limits," was her response.

A cloaked man appeared from an alleyway. "This way," he said quietly. They followed him to a small storage hut of sorts. He opened the door and they walked inside.

"You're the last ones," he rasped. "Everyone's here now."

Three shaded figures sat at benches in the dark. One stood up.

"Oh?" she said in curiousity as she walked through the dark hut. "You brought a _man_?"

She came into the light and Wiess was greeted by another vision of beauty. This one had chin length hair that was parted off center and a smirk on her face. "So you picked up a stray on the road?" she jeered. "Will he help us fight?"

"Actually, he will," the cloaked man rasped.

"What?!" the Claymore giggled. "Yeah right, he must be your plaything, right?"

Clare's eyes glowed yellow as she reached for her sword, but somehow, Wiess was even quicker. His sword was leveled at this unnamed Claymore faster than anyone could see, and hers was only halfway out of her back sheath. There was silence in the room.

"Has he proved himself yet?" the cloaked man asked. "Sheesh. My work here is done now. They're all yours, Miria."

He left the hut and Wiess was faced with an angry-looking Claymore who he beat to the draw, and a sword tip at his throat from a second one, who had a pixie hair cut. Dammit, all their faces looked alike! He could only tell them apart by hair!

"Quite an attitude for a human," Pixie Hair said as her sword didn't even waver an inch at his neck. "We've waited all week for you to show up, and your man here seems to let his sword do all the talking."

"I'd rather hear the sound of swords clashing than your irritating voices," Wiess muttered, making the Claymore in front of him glare mightily. "And hell, we could be on time, maybe _you're _too early!"

"Helen, Deneve, human."

They all turned to Miria, who was still sitting primly at her bench. "Put your swords away. Well, Helen never got hers out I suppose."

"Tch!" the one named Helen said, flopping down on her bench and giving both Wiess and Clare dirty looks. Deneve sat down as well and propped her sword against her body.

Miria addressed them all. "Since we're all here, more or less," she gave Wiess a look, "The target is south of here, in the middle of the Paburo mountains. We leave at dawn."

"Crap, no sleeping in for me," Wiess muttered, and Clare elbowed him.

"To start with, I want to hear everyone's name and rank," Miria continued, giving Wiess a significant glance that meant 'Shut up or I'll shut you up.' "And whether you've hunted a voracious eater before."

She stood up, looking at them calmly. "I'm Miria," she greeted. "I'll be taking command of this hunting party. I'm Number 6. This is my seventh time hunting a voracious eater."

"I'm Helen, Number 22," the cocky Claymore said, placing a hand on her small waist. "I've never hunted one before," she finished with a smirk.

"I'm Deneve, Number 15," Pixie Hair said, still sitting down. "I've hunted one twice."

"I'm Clare," Clare said. "I have no experience hunting a voracious eater. I'm Number 47."

_"Wha?!"_ Helen gawped while the others started. Wiess looked concerned.

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Helen laughed. "Did you hear that Deneve??? She's Number 47!!"

Deneve was giggling into her mouth while Wiess looked around in confusion.

"BWAHAHA, I can't believe she's here!"

"WHAT'S SO GOD DAMN FUNNY?!" Wiess exploded. Everyone went quiet and peered at his angry face. For a moment, Miria looked frightened, but then confused. Helen walked over to him.

"See here, it's like this," she said, draping a shapely arm over his shoulder...

-----

It was raining heavily. The four Claymores plus one human man were hiking up a mountain trail to their destination. They had been hiking for 5 days straight now, not even stopping for when Wiess had to eat. The young man had insisted that he wouldn't slow them down, and would hunt his food, eat it and then meet up with them some hours later. Helen was surprised that he could even trace them.

Wiess saw Clare looking back at him again. Even through the rain, he could see the worry in her eyes. She really didn't want him to come along, for he could get killed. But damn it, he would prove to her that he was a good, capable sidekick! What better way to do that than to fight an Awakened Being? (At this point, all sanity had left his mind :D)

Helen was once again wondering why Clare was with them.

"To send Number 47, the lowest ranked of us all..." she went on again, "What was the organization _thinking_, sending _her_ to hunt a voracious eater?"

Clare glared at her, as did Wiess.

"The chief decided it," Miria said. "It's not for us to worry about."

"Yeah, yeah," Helen whined, twirling about in the rain a bit. "I just hope they don't get in the way."

"You know, if egos could kill Awakened Beings, then I'd understand you being here," Wiess snapped, annoyed with the gorgeous woman. Hey, she was a bitch, but a pretty one.

"What did you say pretty boy?!"

"You heard me, pretty... damn it!"

"HAH!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Sorry Deneve."

"Yeah, sorry."

-----

They found a cave in the mountainside where Miria decided to stay for the night. She explained that they would rest there and hunt the target, which would be nearby.

"Eat, sleep, do as you like," she ordered. She caught site of Clare sitting next to Wiess. "Well, not anything that you'd like."

Both glared at her, and she hid an amused grin.

"Ah, I'm hungry!" Helen said, shucking off her armor. "I think I'll go get food."

"Don't bother, I'll go," Wiess said, picking up his recurve bow and one arrow. "Anything in particular?"

"You seriously think you can hit anything in this rain?" Helen asked incredulously.

"Frog for you then," he muttered, walking to the entrance.

"Hey wait, how bout some pig?" Helen shouted after him. He flipped her off before dissapearing into the rain. "Jerk."

She caught Clare's worrying eyes as she watched Wiess leave. "Miss your loverboy already?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"Helen, leave it," Deneve sighed. "It's not funny anymore."

Helen pouted. "Fine," she sighed, leaning back on her forearms. "Damn, I'm hungry. I should've just gotten an apple or something, he's gonna take forev -"

"Care to light a fire?" asked a dry voice. They all looked over to see a drenching wet Wiess who was carrying his bow in one hand, and a large dead pig in the other.

"What the hell?!" Helen shrieked as he dropped the dead pig down. It had a single arrow in its forehead. "How... how?"

"I got skills," Wiess said, using some rocks and branches to start a fire. Soon, they were all eating some nicely roasted pork.

"Good catch," Helen said grudgingly to Wiess, who nodded. Deneve didn't want to eat at first, but Wiess convinced her to at least eat some for strength. As usual, Wiess demolished 90 percent of the pig while the women took small bites.

-----

Some time later, Clare caught her sword and looked over to see Miria standing at the entrance.

"You're coming with me," Miria ordered, picking up her sword. "Let's go."

"Over there," she pointed outside as Clare got up. There was a clearing. "It won't take long. Your friend can come too."

Wiess followed the two women out into the rain as they stood in front of eachother, swords held loosely at their sides. He caught snippets of Miria explaining to Clare that she wanted to test her skills. He brought his sword out and began to twirl it in his fingers as he watched them duel.

"Careful with that," Deneve's voice made him stop. He planted the sword in the ground as she leaned against the wall next to him. Helen came out next, two drumsticks in her hands.

"Oh ho," she cheered, munching on one. "They're going at it!"

"Want some?" she offered to Deneve.

"No."

"Hmm," Helen said, watching the fight as Wiess took the other drumstick. She didn't mind, he _had_ caught it anyways.

The swordfight was incredible to watch, at least for Wiess. Both women moved around like graceful creatures, their swords extensions of their bodies. He clearly noticed that Clare was weakening quickly however.

"She's..." Helen started, and Deneve opened her mouth.

"A joke."

They both looked in shock to Wiess, who had finished. Neither had expected Clare's man (at least they thought he was) to say anything bad about her.

"I know," he said sadly. "To me she's quite skilled and amazing but you're right. She is lowest ranked for a reason. She'll lose... now."

Clare's sword impaled the ground before them, as Miria held her blade to her neck.

"I see," Miria said shortly as Clare huffed, exhausted from exertion. "Get some rest. You'd better be at full strength tomorrow."

With that, she walked over to the others. Wiess had his hands so tightly around the handle of his sword that his knuckles were white. "She -"

"I accept that she's not as good as you," he said through grit teeth. "But she's still good enough to me!"

They all blinked at this. Then Clare fainted. Then Helen laughed. Wiess pulled his sword out of the ground. Miria looked at him calmly.

"If Clare can be beaten easily by you, then she wouldn't stand a chance against an Awakened Being, right?" he asked.

"No, she wouldn't," Miria answered.

"Fight me," Wiess demanded.

"What?" Helen laughed. "You can't be serious! She's Number 6 dammit!"

"Fight me!" Wiess repeated. "I know you think I"m a joke compared to all of you, but I think that my skills really complement Clare's! I'm her sidekick! We both fight better with eachother! Therefore... therefore... You have to test me as well!"

Helen was still laughing her taut butt off while Deneve contemplated the brave young man before them. Miria finally shrugged.

"Fine."

-----

Clare had been put back into the cave, and Helen and Deneve watched as Miria and Wiess talked to eachother on the clearing.

"I give him 5 minutes," Helen said with a snort. "47 only lasted 8."

"I give him 15," Deneve said softly, shocking her friend.

"15?! Are you serious?" Helen exclaimed. "There's no way he'd last 15 minutes against a single digit!"

"I don't know," Deneve said with a frown. "But something's not right about him."

Helen stared at her friend for a moment before turning back to the duelers. They had taken stances. Then she saw it. It was in his eyes.

Maybe he would last longer.

-----

"That's an interesting stance," Miria commented as Wiess faced her, sword held up to his head, parallel to the ground. The curved tip was facing downwards as the sharp side faced up. "I won't go easy on you."

"I didn't ask you to," Wiess said, dashing foward. His attacks were rapid, but still somewhat easily blocked by the Claymore, who raised an eyebrow. She kicked it up notch to keep up with his fast attacks and soon found herself on the defensive. Every time she tried to attack him, Wiess would double around her attack, parry it and put her back on the defensive. He was incredibly skilled for a human. The fight started to stretch on as Miria fought against Wiess, never raising her power above him, in an attempt to gauge his skill.

He was _very_ skilled. He had a counter for every attack she knew, and a counter-attack that followed. His form was flawless. His timing even better. He was moving nearly as fast as a warrior in the 40s. Maybe in the 30s!

"Time to finish this, and get some rest," she told Wiess, before slashing at his sword with a bit more power. She wanted it to fly out of his hands much like Clare's did. To her surprise, Wiess, jumped backwards into the air, spun around and caught his sword just barely with his fingertips, before thrusting it at her stomach. She didn't even have time to register this attack since she was still in shock, and the blade stopped inches from her belly button.

-----

"WHAAAAA?!" Helen shrieked, dropping her apple as Deneve gasped. "Miria l-l-l-l-lost?!"

"Impossible!" Deneve breathed. "There's no way a human can beat even a low level warrior!"

A pair of silver eyes watched from inside the cave.

-----

"You're very good, if not better than Clare," Miria said as Wiess withdrew his sword, panting slightly. "Had I not been what you call a Claymore, you would have beaten me. However, the only advantage I have on you right now is the fact that I can use my Yoma powers in a battle, and you have none. Other than that, you're a fine warrior."

"Thanks," Wiess said, out of breath.

Miria smiled at him and walked away, back to the cave. "Get some rest, you'll really need it tomorrow," she called over her shoulder.

Wiess nodded and started to follow her, but was glomped by Helen.

"How'd you _beat_ her?!" she demanded.


	6. Chapter 6

**Number Zero**

"Hey, Clare!"

She blinked her eyes open and saw Wiess' face near hers. Blinking again, she moved away and looked around. It was morning, and the others were all geared up.

"Time to go!" he said excitedly, grabbing her hand and forcing her to get up. "Here!"

He passed Clare her armor, which she took with a smile. "I'm coming!" she said, socking him in the arm a bit. He wasn't the least fazed.

Wiess quickly slid his sword into his back sheath and made sure he had enough arrows. For the trip, he had reused every arrow he hunted food with, but he kept a bag full of around 200 as well. He carefully slid a nice chunk into his quiver and slung that onto his back as well. Since his sword was drawn from the right side, he had to keep the quiver on the left, which meant switching his bow hand to the right, which took some getting used to. Still, he perfected it for Clare. Not that she noticed of course, but it was the thought that counted.

They started walking the mountain path, and Helen started her grumbling again.

"What should we do with her?" she muttered, glancing at Clare. "Even her man is better than her! Can't we just leave her behind?"

"How many times do I have to tell you," Miria snapped bitingly, silencing Helen immediately. "We have to follow the orders from above. She and her man will work just fine together. Besides -"

"Hey!"

They were all alerted to a man's call. He came up to them, carrying what looked like traveling gear. He had a smile on his face, and most of his black hair was tied up in a bandanna.

"I've been waiting for you Claymores!" he said happily.

Wiess suddenly had a very bad feeling about this man. Miria did too, as she went to draw her sword in lightning speed. She slashed at the man, shocking the others.

"Miria!" Helen shouted, but then stopped as the man suddenly became a blur and dissapeared up the mountain path wall. "What the?"

He stopped up some 100 feet and peered down at them. Miria's right shoulder suddenly burst into red spray.

"Miria!" Deneve cried, rushing to her leader.

"Our information... was wrong!" Miria gasped, stemming the blood flowing out of her body as she used her powers to heal herself. "We heard it was an average voracious eater... But do they think we can really face something this powerful?!"

"Huh?" Helen wondered, but their attention was drawn upwards.

The man was growing, growing into something much more larger and scarier than a Yoma.

"It - it can't be!" Helen choked, fear taking control of her body.

"It's a male voracious eater!" Miria said in horror.

They all looked up in horror at the gigantic, multi-limbed Awakened Being.

"Is... that important?" Wiess asked stupidly.

"Male ones are much, much more powerful," Miria said shakily as she stood up. "Much more."

"Right, much more powerful," Wiess noted, notching an arrow. He pulled the bowstring back to its limits, making the bow bend fantastically and aimed upwards.

"No, don't!" Miria shouted, but it was too late. Wiess fired his arrow and it miraculously hit the monster in the face. It roared in anger, and merely tore it out before healing almost instantly. He turned an angry pair of yellow eyes on Wiess.

"Oops?"

"Look out!"

Wiess barely had time to register the fact that his right lung had been removed from his body and all that was left was a gaping 8 inch hole in his chest before he was thrown off the side of the path.

"WIESS!" Clare screamed, but the Awakened Being struck again, it's tongue removing Deneve's left arm from her body as she too, fell. She, Helen and Miria watched in terror as the being's tongue snaked back to its mouth, carrying both Wiess' lung and Deneve's arm to it. He took a few bites out of Deneve's arm then spat it out.

"This meat tastes foul," it said in a gutteral tone. "It stinks of Yoma energy. I can't eat it. However, this human lung..."

He gobbled it up greedily, chewing on Wiess' organ in bliss. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide and he spat out the mushed up remains of the lung.

"Another one?" he questioned.

Clare's heart nearly stopped beating.

_Another one_

_Another one_

_Anotheroneanotheroneanotherone_

"That was even fouler to taste!" the being spat. "I haven't had any good meat in a while."

"Shut up you son of a bitch!" Helen screamed, launching herself at him. She slammed her sword forward, but only succeeded in smashing the wall up.

"Helen, above you!" Miria shouted. The being was just above her, and was crawling down rapidly.

"Get away from the cliff!" Miria shouted while Clare stood there, frozen. "Hurry!"

Clare, meanwhile, didn't pay any attention to the deadly battle above her. All she could think about was Wiess. He had lied to her. LIED! He was a Yoma! Or - or maybe an Awakened Being as well! He was probably trying to kill her and her comrades! He betrayed her! He was a traitor!

Suddenly, she felt Miria's hand on her shoulder. "Don't dwell too much on it," the single digit said tersely. "From what I saw, he genuinely liked you. I don't know if he was a Yoma or not, but he felt like a good man."

Clare's reasoning came back. She looked over the edge again. "He could get dead for all we know."

Helen managed to stretch her arms out and cut off most of the being's arms. However, two of his spear-like arms went to impale her when suddenly, they were cut off as well, leaving him armless. Deneve had come back!

"Striking out of nowhere like that," she panted angrily, as her left arm was _regenerating itself_. "I'll make you pay for that! And for Wiess as well! TWICE OVER!"

-----

_Somewhere down the cliffside, eariler._

Wiess honestly had no idea what he was doing. Here he was, hanging onto his bow, which had caught onto a rather sturdy branch sticking out, hanging as he wheezed from the lack of a lung and his open chest wound.

Actually, he had no idea how he was still alive. _I mean, yeah, OW! but... Shouldn't I be dead?_ he wondered, looking at the sucking chest wound. He heard sounds of screams, and then a body with short hair falling down. Reacting quickly, Wiess grabbed Deneve's remaining arm and caught her just in time.

"Wiess?" she gasped, fighting to stay conscious. "You should be dead!"

"Yeah, I'm kinda thinking that too," Wiess coughed. "You okay?"

"It'll grow back," Deneve grunted, referring to her missing left arm. "Can you give me a boost? I kinda want to pay that bastard back for this."

"Sure," Wiess answered, helping the woman heft herself up so she could climb up to the branch. Her lack of arm made it slightly more difficult, though she didn't say anything when Wiess had to grab her ass to prevent her from falling. She reached the branch and looked down at him.

"Will you be okay?" she asked.

Wiess shrugged. "Maybe?" he replied. "Go kick some ass."

She smirked. "Oh I will!" she said dangerously. "Goodbye, wierdo."

She launched away and Wiess sighed. What was he going to do now?

-----

"Well I guess it's about time," the male Awakened Being said, "To show you all a taste of true _despair_!"

"All of you, run!" Miria shouted, but he dissapeared. A blur blew past Deneve, and his hand appeared out her back, having impaled her through the stomach. She coughed up blood in shock. Miria screamed.

"Why you-!" she roared, and leapt towards him, but he dissapeared again, this time in front of Clare. She raised her sword, but his spear-like fingers impaled her body, dropping her instantly. Miria watched in horror as he appeared behind Helen this time, raking his claws down her back, rendering her useless.

He stopped some distance away from Miria, as she stared at her fallen comrades. "Helen... Deneve... Clare..." she whispered.

"So," the being laughed. "How does it tase?"

Suddenly, Miria dissapeared much like he did, but much faster. She appeared off in the distance, laying Deneve on a piece of rock. She saw that Deneve had already started to heal her stomach, but she was too weak. It was 50-50.

"GRRRR," the being growled. He held up a clawed hand. "This is no time to be worrying about your friends. You'd do well... to worry about YOURSELF!"

He shot his fingers at her, and she turned around just as they pierced her body and forehead.

Then, Miria seemed to fade into nothingness as the fingertips impaled empty ground.

_Clank!_

The being turned to see Miria off in the distance, looking at Clare's injured body. Clare was whimpering in pain.

"She's alive?!"

"GRAAAH!"

She looked up to see the being in the air, raising his hand again.

"YOU'RE FINISHED!" he yelled. "TIME TO DIE!"

Once again, she recieved a fingertip attack, this time her head took the full brunt of it. But once again, they hit empty ground as she fizzled out of existance again.

She appeared next to Deneve, carrying Clare and Helen's slashed bodies with her. She assessed their wounds while the being assessed her powers.

"I see, I see!" he laughed.

-----

"She's incredible," Helen muttered through coughs as she and Clare watched 'Phantom Miria' move around the being faster than the eye could see. "Damn it! If she could do that, why didn't she do it before?!"

Helen started to get angry, though she had tears in her eyes as well. "We wouldn't be in -"

"It's probably a last resort," Clare interupted.

"Huh?"

"She must not have wanted to use it," Clare explained. "It's a strain for her to use large bursts of Yoma power. It would exhaust her body and mind."

They watched as Miria attacked the being ferociously.

"I'll be Miria can only do it a few times," Clare continued. "Maybe ten, no, twenty times at most."

She frowned. "But it's been over thirty times now," she said with a worried look. "She's really straining herself."

"Eh?" Helen asked. "How would you know all this? You're the lowest ranked of us all!"

_WHAM!_

"Got you now!" the Awakened Being chortled happily as it pinned Miria down with one hand while she yelled. They saw it's tongue come out and plunge into her stomach, making her scream shrilly in pain. He began to twist inside her insides as she squirmed and screamed loudly.

"Damn it!" Helen cursed, falling to the ground. "I can't even get up!"

She began to cry, her silver tears hitting the earth below her. "This is it!" she whispered to herself. "It's hopeless! This is the end! There's nothing I can do. It's like he said... This is true despair!"

She heard something to her right. Clare had picked her sword up. "Despair?" she asked softly. "After only this?"

"I've known a greater opponent," she said, standing up. "And known true despair."

She started walking to the being, who began to notice her.

"How - how can she still stand with thouse wounds?!" Helen gasped.


	7. Chapter 7

Finally, an update! Sorry it took so long, circumstances were beyond my control. As usual, the story will get freaky, but there is method to my madness, as usual.

**Number Zero**

Pain.

It's amazing how the human body and mind work. If the body is damaged in any way, it will feel pain, the mind, it will register it as pain. If there's a heavy amount of pain, then the mind cannot focus on anything but it, and all manner of thought processes cease to exist.

That's what Wiess was experiencing at the moment, total and utterly mind-numbing pain as he hung from a branch some few hundred feet above a raging river. The huge hole in his chest poured rivers of blood and it was all he could do to _not_ let go and fall to his death. Above, he heard the noises of Clare and Miria fighting the Awakened Being. Good, they were still alive. He grit his teeth.

"Heal!" he pleaded with himself. "Come on damn it, heal!"

Ever since the Yoma attack seven years ago, Wiess knew that something about him wasn't right. Lifting heavy objects suddenly became easier, fighting was stronger and faster and his senses had improved. Though he knew that the Yoma had killed his father, and he, it, Wiess had no recollection of the events after the attack. It was as if a heavy fog had descended on his memories, denying him access to precious information. He knew he wasn't a Yoma, that was for sure, but he also wasn't a warrior like Clare and the others.

"Ow!"

His chest began to irritate him and he looked down to see a new lung being strung together, fiber by fiber. Soon enough, muscle, flesh and skin began to cover it and within minutes, he was healed. "Amazing..."

Taking some time to climb up, he retrieved his bow, which had caught onto a branch above him and got back onto the path. Looking around, he saw the warriors gathered around the corpse of the freshly slain Awakened Being, and they were all talking. Clearing his throat, Wiess stepped forward and they all turned to him. Clare's furious glare was the first thing he saw, and it made his heart plummet to his ankles.

"...Hey..."

"So you made it afterall," Miria said, eyeing him. "Welcome back Wiess."

He scratched his head. "Yeah, I don't know what happened," he nervously said. "I don't even know what I am anymore, if I'm even human..."

"How long?" Clare suddenly demanded. "How long have you been lying to us?"

Wiess tried to reason with her. "Clare, if I had _any_ idea of what I was, I would have told you right away!"

Clare turned her back on him as the others watched sadly. "I hate Yoma and Awakened Beings," she angrily said. "If... If I ever see you again, I'll kill you."

Deneve gasped as Helen's hands flew to her mouth. Miria was apathetic as always. Hot, salty tears began to slide down Wiess' cheeks, but he ignored them.

"Clare," he said, gathering what courage he had left. "I - There's no way in hell that I'm leaving you! I told you this already!"

In a whirl, Clare had turned around and planted the tip of her sword into Wiess' throat, making him gasp in one last gulp of air. She had hot, angry tears in her eyes as she drove her broadsword in deeper, making Wiess drop to his knees. She pulled her sword out, making crimson red liquid spurt out of his neck.

"Clare!" Deneve gasped.

"But - but his blood is red!" Helen sputtered, pointing at the pool building at Wiess' knees. "Red, like a human's!"

Clare looked down at Wiess, whose eyes were beginning to dim. She could see him mouth something slowly...

_With you till I die_, he mouthed, giving her a sad, defeated smile before falling over and making no movements. All was silent.

Miria finally broke the silence by unclipping her cloak and draping it over Wiess' body. "For all it means, I think he loved you."

Clare didn't move.

-----

He opened his eyes. "And still, I can't die," Wiess sighed, sitting up. He looked around to only see empty horizon around him. It was obvious that the Claymores had left. "What happened?"

He couldn't remember a thing. His memory of what had happened after he climbed up the cliff had dissapeared.

Piercing silver eyes flashed across his memory, and the tip of Clare's sword imprinted itself into his vision. "She... she tried to kill me!" he gasped. "But, why?"

Hot tears began to flow down his cheeks again, but these weren't full of sadness, no, these were tears of rage. "That - that bitch!" he fumed, "She tried to kill me, but she failed, and she probably ran off scared! I'll make her pay! I'll make her wish she never hurt me at all!"

A blue halo of energy erupted around Wiess as his anger intensified, filling every nook and cranny of his being. His face slightly distorted, and his eyes shone red with triple slits as he roared in fury. **"PAY!"**

Something was close, he could feel it. Something was going to break. Was it... was it he that was going to break? No, he couldn't break now, he needed to get his revenge!

_Must... hold it back!_ Wiess thought intensely, concentrating on stopping the enormous flow of energy that was coming out of him. _Stop... Stop... _"STOP!"

And at once, it did. The blue flames slowly evaporated and his anger abated. However, Wiess could still feel it, simmering down deep below in his very being, just waiting to be tapped into again. The power, such raw power... His for the taking. They would know his anger, those two-timing Claymores! They would feel his wrath!

-----

Clare dodged Duph's blow by jumping into the air in the confines of the tunnel. Jean was right behind her, ready to use her Twist Sword attack while Galatea used her Yoki control technique to keep the giant Awakened Being's mouth shut. Concentrating hard, Clare directed her Yoki to control her Quick Sword's movements, restricting them to attacking Duph's arms only.

"Do it now!!" she yelled, as Jean flashed by her.

Duph screamed out in pain as Jean completely tore through his throat, leaving behind a massive trail of purple blood. He sagged to the ground, gagging on his own blood and gore as Jean and Clare landed. Riful looked on apathetically.

"That head!" Jean seethed, "I shall take it off completely!"

She made to jump towards Duph, twisting her arm again, but suddenly she was tied up by black cords. The cords wrapped around her body tightly and then slammed her into the ground.

"Jean!" Clare cried as Galatea watched silently in shock.

"Sorry," Riful said, her right arm a huge mass of snaking black cord. "I really want you to savor your moment of glory a little longer... But I really can't be having this."

Despite having a grotesque amount of black vines coming out of her small body, Riful gave them a smile. "After all is said and done... He is still my man after all."

Clare gritted her teeth angrily and made to leap at Riful, but something stopped her. Indeed, Jean and Galatea felt it too, as did the Abyssal One, who turned to look curiously.

An incredible amount of Yoki had just entered the cave.

"Wow, looks like I was late for the party," an all-too-familiar voice said as a dark figure stepped into the tunnel. "No food, no drinks and all the babes are finished their cat fight."

Wiess walked around the collapsed portion of the tunnel and looked around with a deceptive smile. "Found you," he said to Clare.

-----

"Who the hell around you?" Duph asked, his throat somewhat half-healed. "Mooooooooron!"

He created a lance in his throat and fired it at Wiess without abandon, to Riful's forehead-slapping. It rocketed towards Wiess, as the young man raised an eyebrow.

"Relax," he said, raising his right leg so that he kicked the lance just before it hit him. It spun around in midair in front of the man as he stood there, hands in pockets as his knee was touching his chest. "Take a breather."

With a flick of his leg, Wiess launched the still-spinning lance right back at Duph at more then ten times the speed, letting it explode out of the Awakened Being's back like a bomb. Clare and the other warriors gasped in shock at the brutally powerful attack. Duph staggered backwards, falling completely as he suffered another crushing blow (quite literally). Riful stood up in anger.

"How dare you!" she cried, her cords unwrapping from a groggy Jean as she directed them towards Wiess. "Just who do you think you are, coming in here like that and hurting my man?"

Wiess blinked and looked back at Duph's body. He turned back to Riful. "You call that thing a _man_?" he asked incredulously. "I mean like seriously, a _man_?!"

Riful fired her cords at Wiess, but the man was gone in an instant. They harmlessly impaled into the ground as she and the warriors looked around in confusion. Suddenly, Riful stiffened.

"What's wrong with her?" Clare whispered to herself.

"Something's not right," Galatea answered, having heard the lower ranked warrior. Jean went to join them as they watched Riful stand there with a shocked look on her face. Wiess' face appeared over her shoulder. Clare's eyes widened.

"Well, that wasn't nice, was it?" he asked Riful casually, placing his hands on her shoulders. Her corded right arm suddenly changed back to normal, and the limb sagged to her side as she flinched at his touch. "And you chastise _me_ for being rude!"

"It's been a while," Riful answered, some fear seeping into her childish voice. Her shoulders were beginning to shake. "Number Zero, Wiess."


	8. Chapter 8

**Number Zero**

"Number... Zero...?" Clare whispered, her eyes on Wiess. "Impossible..."

"Number Zero?" Wiess asked Riful, slinging his arm over her shoulder. "Where'd you get that crazy idea?"

Riful looked surprised. "You don't remember?" she asked. "Wiess, the most powerful warrior ever born, king of all female warriors? Have you lost your memories?"

"Apparently, it seems," Galatea muttered. She gave Clare a sharp look. "And this man was your companion?"

Clare looked away from Wiess in disgust. "Of course not!" she snapped.

"Number Zero, Wiess," Riful sang, "Born from the union of a Number One ranked male and Number One ranked female warrior. Older than all of us 'Abyssal Ones'."

"Older?" Galatea repeated. "But, you and the other Abyssal Ones are at least three centuries old!"

"Holy shit grandma!" Wiess chuckled, tousling Riful's hair to her annoyance.

"You do realize that you're older, right?" she asked waspishly. "And let go of me! Why are you even here?"

"Just here for some unfinished business," Wiess replied, giving Clare a dark look. "If you don't mind, I'd like to destroy this would-be killer of mine."

"Wha - what?" Clare gasped, taking a step back. "Wiess!"

"You tried to kill me!" Wiess said angrily, stepping forward towards Clare, leaving a thoughtful Riful behind. "I remember! I saw you stabbing me in the throat in my memories!"

He continued to walk towards Clare, who was stepping back in fear, shock and guilt, as Galatea and Jean watched in surprise. The young black-haired man stepped past Duph's body, advancing on the one he used to trust. Suddenly, Duph flashed to his feet, bringing both hands together as he made to pummel Wiess into the ground.

"DIE YOU BASTARD!" Duph screamed, swinging his arms down. They hit Wiess with a deafening bang, causing clouds of dust to fly up and rocks to scatter into the air. "Gotcha!"

"Think again," a voice from underneath his fists said coldly.

Duph's hands were hovering several feet off the ground, and underneath was Wiess, holding the massive fists up above his head with just two fingers and his thumb. The young man was pressed into the ground by a couple of feet but all in all, he was unscathed. There was only one thing different about him, something that scared everyone in the tunnel - including Riful - very much: His eyes were a shining red, such a dark crimson in color with bloodlust and rage that it chilled them to their very bones and made even the Abyssal One want to flee in terror.

"You should have stayed down," Wiess remarked in an oily tone as he gently, effortlessly flicked Duph's hands away from him. "Now I'm afraid that little girl is gonna need a new boyfriend."

"No, wait!" Riful cried, changing into her Awakened form, but it was too late. Without so as much as becoming a slight blur, Wiess moved faster than any living creature could see, and Duph became a giant splatter of gore, coating the walls and warriors in purple blood and chunks of flesh. The largest piece that remained of the mighty Awakened Male was his eyeball, which rolled on the ground towards Riful, stopping at her enormous black 'skirt'.

"D-Duph..." Riful said sadly, her black face letting out a single tear.

Wiess stood just where he was before annihilating Duph, seemingly unaffected by anything, his clothes and body clean of any blood. He stood there, his hands still in his pockets as he turned around to look at Riful. "His fault," he said simply. "Not mine."

Red eyes pierced black ones as the two powerful beings stared eachother down. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Riful sighed.

"I... accept my defeat," she said. "I... I will be... leaving now."

And in a massive twirl of black cords, she dissapeared into the sky. Wiess watched her fading figure with a bemused grin before turning around to face the three warriors behind him. Clare gulped and grasped her sword tightly, readying Ilena's arm for the Quick Sword technique. She stared as Wiess' face became a slight blur, then all of a sudden, the heavy weight of her claymore sword dissapeared. Shocked, Clare looked down to see her empty right hand and looked around to see Galatea's and Jean's swords missing as well. Looking back at Wiess, she nearly swallowed her tongue at the sight of him shouldering all three swords with one hand.

"You weren't thinking of finishing me off, were you???" he asked softly, looking into Clare's silver eyes. "It took me half a second to kill that male Awakened Being, what chance do you think you have against me as pathetic _Claymores_?"

"These past few months have been interesting," Wiess continued, tapping the swords against his shoulder. "I've been trying to find out my limits, trying to see what I'm capable of. You, with the long hair, you can read Yoki flows, can't you?"

"I can," Galatea replied.

"And also control them to an extent as well," Wiess smirked, making her lose her composure for a moment. "I know you were gonna try it on me next, I'll save you some grief: Don't."

He held the swords out in front of him and beckoned for all three warriors to watch. "Now, read what I do next, you too Clare!"

With a clatter, the swords began to vibrate, then hum, then suddenly, all three rose into the air from Wiess' hand, forming a three-point star. Wiess smirked at their shocked faces as he began to spin the swords around like a wheel. "Amazing, isn't it?" he asked them. "You and Number Three there can probably see that I'm using my Yoki to manipulate inanimate objects, right?"

"Incredible," Galatea said, "As expected of the so-called 'Number Zero'."

Wiess shrugged. "If you say so," he said. He made the swords fly back to their owners. "Anyways, back to business."

He gave Clare a cold smirk and she readied herself. "Are you ready for this?"

Clare released some of her Yoki in preparation for the upcoming battle, but when she did, Wiess merely frowned.

"That's it?" he asked incredulously in disbelief. "After all those months, you've only gotten _that_ much stronger? What a waste of time! I'll come back when you're a little more than a peon."

"What?" Clare shouted, but he was already gone.

-----

As she trudged along with Jean up to the snowy mountains of Alphonse, Clare could not help but think back on what had happened with Wiess. He had been so... powerful, so sure of himself. What had happened to him during these past few months? How could someone become so _monstrously_ strong in that short of a time span? It was scary, too scary to comprehend...

And the look on his face when he saw her... It chilled Clare to the bone. Did he really hate her that much? But of course he would! She had tried to kill him, the man who had once been her very sidekick, the one who was always there for her. Maybe... Maybe Wiess was wrong. Maybe she really _was_ a monster...

-----

Wiess landed in a forest somewhere out in the country. Looking around, he saw a small figure standing around a small pond. He walked up to Riful of the West. "Hey."

"You've got a lot of nerve, coming here," she said quietly, staring into the murky water. "You killed my Duph."

"He was an idiot," Wiess simply said. Riful let out a small chuckle.

"You said that the first time you met him," she said, turning around and giving the young man a smile. "Never liked Duph, not once in your lifetime."

"I'm sorry I forgot everything," Wiess apologized. Riful 'shushed' him and pulled him into an embrace.

"It's okay," she said, swaying back and forth gently. "You always lose your memories after a while, it's not your fault."

She continued to rock Wiess in the forest as they stood there quietly, enjoying eachother's company.

"It's okay... Big brother..."


End file.
